Gilbane Development is well on its way to adding another College Park project to its portfolio, winning a key bit of support as it looks to build new graduate student housing and townhomes on the south side of the University of Maryland’s campus.
The University System of Maryland Board of Regents unanimously signed off on a deal with the Rhode Island-based developer at its meeting April 19. Gilbane is pitching a project dubbed “Western Gateway,” which would include 300 units of affordable homes for grad students and another 83 townhomes.
In all, the university owns 11.3 acres near the intersection of Mowatt Lane and Campus Drive. Gilbane plans to sign a ground lease with UMd. for about 2.2 acres of the site for at least the next 75 years.
In exchange, the developer agreed to tamp down rents at the homes to “below market” values and give priority to graduate student renters, according to a report prepared for the board. The university helps subsidize two other communities around College Park that are specifically set aside for graduate students, and some residents have complained about persistently rising rent prices.
The university will then sell the remaining 9.1 acres to Gilbane for $810,000, which the developer plans to use to build the townhomes.